Battle Axe
by ClosetCase
Summary: Some things are best left alone, ignored, and forgotten: and Kathleen is about to discover these things. SH/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock BBC, or any of its characters, as much is obvious. However, I do own my own creations, just as any other writer.**

This takes place right before the final episode, 'The Great Game' and will eventually have **spoilers**. Cheers!

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Kathleen Gray Wright was having difficulty getting to sleep that night, her mind distracted by the coded message on her dining room table. She knew she shouldn't have picked the envelope up and brought it home with her, especially since it didn't belong to her in the first place but she couldn't help it. The need to solve the puzzle was much too great and in a moment of weakness, Kathleen had stolen someone else's riddle.

Tossing and turning for less than another minute, Kathleen decided she'd already breached someone's privacy by stealing the envelope and sealed puzzle, and taking a peak wouldn't necessarily be any worse on top of it all. Kicking the daft blue comforter off, she hurried into her small dining room and scooped up the white envelope with eager hands. The lip couldn't have been opened any faster as she plucked the strangely worded letter in her grasp.

'_My dear friend,_

T WPQE L DFCACTDP QZC JZF LE ESP BFPPY SZEPW

Xx'

Staring longingly at the puzzle it took a matter of seconds before Kathleen was scrambling for a pencil and scribbling right onto the wood of the table, the code. It took her three tries to find the proper count before she was cracking the Caesar cipher and staring down at the revealed message.

_I left a surprise for you at the queen hotel_

Biting the end of the pencil, Kathleen began debating in her mind what to do. The Queen Hotel was only a cab ride away, but if she went how would she know what she was looking for? And should she really delve herself into someone else's personal life more than she had already?  
Heaving a heavy sigh she ran her fingers through her strawberry ginger hair, the short layered strands curling at the ends and hooking around her fingers tips in tangles. She couldn't believe the audacity of herself, how could she even consider heading to the hotel in search of whatever was left for **someone else**.

Tucking the written letter back into the envelope, Kathleen moved away from the table and back to her tiny bedroom. The wallpaper was peeling, the flowered designs faded and torn from the years of misuse. Her bed was decorated with an ugly blue comforter that her younger sister, Joanne had given her just two Christmases ago. It provided little to no heat, but out of love for her sister, Kathleen had kept the useless thing. Beside the bed was a tiny little dresser that contained ten different coloured shirts, and one common black waistcoat that she'd wear with everything. With a cemented mind she slipped on a pair of black jeans that had been lying carelessly on the floor and opened the dresser to pick out a red shirt and the black waistcoat. Buttoning the coat together, Kathleen made her way out of the small rented flat and out to the street corner.

As she hailed a taxi it occurred to her that she had made up her mind rather quickly, jumping into the back seats and rattling off the address. The hotel appeared faster than she thought and within minutes she was inside and studying the fancy red and white decor. The carpets had been freshly vacuumed, left now for the customers milling about to dirty it up.

"Can I help you?" A secretary at the front desk called over to her. Kathleen glanced at the young woman and took in the sleek eyebrows, pointed jaw and dark eyes. She was a true beauty, one that could easily pass for a model in today's media standards.

"Actually, I'm—" Kathleen didn't even know what the woman could help her with, but she'd give it a shot, "looking for something. A... surprise of sorts..?"

Immediately the woman's helpful features darkened, much like the dark makeup that covered her eyes. She seemed to understand the meaning better than Kathleen, and ducked behind the desk to retrieve a small package. It was square in shape, small enough to fit in her pocket but large enough to contain something that certainly didn't belong to her. Chewing down on her thin lower lip, Kathleen tried her best to act impassive as she took the small box in her hand and eyed the brown wrapping. She was shocked with how easy it was to obtain someone else's 'surprise'. In fact, she hadn't even approached the woman first to ask for anything. Fingering the paper wrap, she took a chance and began to unwrap it until a shaky hand was placed in her way.

"Please ma'am. I'll ask that you don't open that in here." The secretary spoke shakily, her fingers trembling as they hovered over the package. "Please, ma'am" she repeated.

Kathleen immediately realized she should have listened to her father, Marshall and all his warnings about taking things that didn't belong to her. She should have obeyed the law and left the envelope alone, and even more, she shouldn't have come to this hotel asking for something that didn't belong to her; but how could she give the package back to the woman without having her phone the police for her impersonations and thievery. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Kathleen took the package and rushed out of the hotel at top speed.

What had she done?

Looking down at the little package she let her fingers finish the process the secretary had stopped her from completing inside the hotel. Letting the wrapping fall to the cement below, Kathleen flipped open the two cardboard lips and discovered a small strange wireless remote. Its shape and mould suggested that it belonged to a remote controlled race car, much like the ones her older brothers had played with in their younger years. Flipping the box to its side, she held the remote in her hand and brushed a thin thumb over the circle of four buttons.

What kind of surprise was a remote control?


	2. Chapter 2

"No, Michael. I'm not an idiot" Kathleen sighed into the phone's receiver. She'd been in a call with her brother since earlier in the morning, arguing with him. The argument topics had become blurred within the first hour, and now all Kathleen could think to say were soft sighs and mild disagreements.

Michael was the type of person who revelled in confrontation, this trait making him, her least favourite sibling. He could go on for hours –like we was now—with debates that were meant to lower someone's self esteem and boost his own.

"Then why can't you use that brain of yours?" Michael's voice was set in its usual deep baritone rasp. Kathleen's light brown eyes rolled and landed on the remote controller that rested on the dining room table, on top of the stolen envelope. She'd forgotten all about the controller until now. "Look Kathy, I think you should just stop by and we can talk properly about this"

"What?" Kathleen finally caught onto the conversation, "talk about what?"

"Are you ignoring me?" Michael hissed, "Jesus Kathy! This is exactly why you can't hold down a job! You don't listen!"

"Oh, so that's what we're arguing about," Kathleen hummed and tried desperately to keep the smile and frustration out of her voice, "I've already told you, they're just not the proper jobs for me. It's always the same thing, day in and day out. What good can I do the world by sitting around answering calls?"

Michael huffed loudly on the other line of the phone, no doubt running a hand through his thick ginger locks. "And what good do you do the world by sitting in a flat that _I pay for_, doing _nothing_?"

Kathleen knew it was a cheap shot but her mind was distracted by the remote as she picked it up and circled the bottom button in the circle of four. She was tired of having a conversation with her brother about work, and the flat he rented out for her to live in.

"Look," She started, pressing a random button on the remote, "Michael. I'll pay you back the rent soon. I'll have the money"

"And how will you have the money with no job?"

"I'll find one!" she snapped in exasperation. "By the end of the month you'll have your money." Michael made a noise of disbelief on the other side but chose not to speak for once in his life. "I'll call you later" Kathleen finished the conversation abruptly and hung up.

Sighing loudly she stared down at the remote in her hand. What good was a remote controller? Tossing the black piece of equipment to the table she stood up and stretched, looking over to her fridge and wondering if she should bake something to take her mind off of Michael. With the phone still in hand she opened the fridge's door, placed the device inside and exchanged it with a carton of skim milk. It wasn't her favourite choice, but it was the cheaper option when she last went grocery shopping. Filling up a glass with the white liquid, Kathleen took long sips as she kicked the fridge closed and moved into the medium sized living room. She didn't have any furniture in the room, which helped the area appear much larger than it truly was, except for a tiny television that sat in the corner by the window sill.

Dust was collecting on the window sill, a testament to how often the room was maintained and occupied. Kathleen took a spot on the hardwood floor, leaning forward to flip the knob on the television and bring the electronic screen to life. Continuing to take leisurely sips at her glass of milk, she watched a few commercials before deciding to channel surf. It wasn't easy finding something to watch at two in the afternoon. Letting out a long breath she settled on the news station, barely taking in the new reports of a children's charity reaching their donation goals. The reporters bickered back and forth for another ten minutes before a "breaking bulletin" came up about a few pedestrians involved in a small bomb explosion just inside the city.

Leaning up onto the palms of her hands Kathleen stared with a new interest as the reporter gushed for the three casualties and spoke about the police's investigation on the matter. She couldn't help but feel a tingle in the back of her mind that stretched to the remote control on her dining room table.

"It's impossible" she told herself, before swivelling on the floor as she heard her phone ring from inside the fridge. Leaving the milk behind on the floor she went to retrieve the ringing device, wincing at the shrill tones of her ring tone and the name that flashed across the screen. "What?" She snapped into the phone.

"I was just thinking," Michael's voice cut back into her ear, "You need a job and I've got a friend who owes me a favour. She needs someone to—"

"Michael, I can find a job on my own" Kathleen cut in, rubbing at her tiny jaw. "Why can't you let this be?"

Michael scoffed on the other line, for he as the older brother by a nine year age difference, knew better than his sister. "Because, _Kathleen Gray_, I've known you long enough to understand that if you aren't pushed into something, you'll most likely never **do** anything!"

Kathleen pursed her lips at her brother's words, and narrowed her heavy lidded almond eyes. "Where is this job, who with, and doing what?" She finally caved.

"Her name is Sarah Sawyer; it's down at the hospital. Not too far a walk away for you and you'll just be checking in patients. It's not that hard, and besides, with all the different people coming in I'm sure you won't become too bored with a routine"

"Are you forgetting my fear of blood, Michael?" She could just picture the frown on her brother's face as she replied. "How the hell am I supposed to be around a place that deals with blood, ninety percent of the time?"

"You'll learn," He rebuffed her. "Now, I'll give her a call tonight and set you up a meeting. I'll send you a text with the date and time. Do not miss it for the world!"

"Got it" she grumbled much like a younger sister would to their older sibling. Grinding her teeth together, Kathleen ran a hand through her fluffy bangs that rested straight across her forehead. It was an attempt at forgetting just who she was on the phone with.

"I'd also like to talk to you about family dinner this Thursday. We're having it at Charles' flat; he's decided he's going to become some chef and wants to practice with us. I doubt he's going to get anything done though. Mum will probably take over once he burns everything" Michael rambled.

"Charles is a good cook," Kathleen tried to defend the second Wright child, "He knows his way around a turkey!"

The deep voice of her brother snorted through the phone lines unattractively. "Oh yes, the Christmas two years ago when he tried to make some awful honey glazed turkey! That was certainly tasty"

She flushed in embarrassment when she recalled the event. Charles, who at the time had let his hair grow long, had been trying to coat the turkey in a fresh coat of honey only to get most of it in his hair and half of it on the turkey. They'd later found strands of his hair in the fresh meat, though no one mentioned anything to him as they picked it out silently.

"We'll just buy him a hair net..." Michael scoffed at the idea but allowed his sister to continue. "He's cut it all short now anyway, so I doubt we have to worry about anymore hair"

"Right: Well, I do hope you show up this time. The dinner will be around seven, if everything goes smoothly. I'll be bringing along Wendy—"

"Who's Wendy?"

"New girlfriend," Michael disregarded her question quickly, "And Joanne will be driving in just a few hours earlier." Kathleen nodded along even though he couldn't see her. "And we should expect you at what time?"

"I'll try to get there early, but you never know with traffic..."

"Right, so you'll be late; off trying to find some hidden meaning in a book or stalking someone to their own family dinners, just to miss your own. Correct?"

"I never miss family dinner" Kathleen ground out, "Michael, I'll be there. I won't be late, I'll have your bloody money and—and just let it lie. I'm going to hang up now, I have things to do." With a hard jab at the 'end call' button, Kathleen stalked back to the living room to finish off her glass of remaining milk.

She shouldn't have answered the call to begin with. She knew it would have been Michael with something to tell her, he always had to call people twice. It was some annoying habit he'd developed the minute he learned to use a telephone. There was always some excuse to call back, and just another to keep talking. Kathleen figured he just loved the sound of his voice a bit too much.

Finishing the glass of milk, she shut the television off and dropped the glass back into the sink before skulking into her bedroom. It was another wasted day, one summed up with telephone calls to her brother and sleep. She supposed she really was a boring person after all. Maybe she did take after her family members.


	3. Chapter 3

Kathleen rolled her shoulders as she sat in the uncomfortable seat before Miss Sarah Sawyer. The woman's sandy brown hair had been pulled back into a low ponytail, a thick strand falling into her face and gloomy blue eyes. She appeared to be a woman with far more on her plate than just keeping a medical staff in order. Her thin nose was a little crooked and her lips were pulled up in a reassuring smile. Kathleen, however, didn't feel reassured as she sat in the woman's office and glanced around at the lack of personal items.

"So Michael told me you're great with people." Sarah's voice was confident and light as she spoke, hands folded upon her desk. "Do you have experience in this field of work?"

Kathleen arched a thin red eyebrow and bobbed her head slowly. "I've had twelve jobs in the field of secretarial work, and four in different call centers. I worked for Harmon, a company that dealt with prescriptions and I have all my credentials"

Sarah smiled pleasantly, a sight that never seemed to go away for even a second, and told Kathleen that she'd love to have her on the 'team'. It was a bittersweet moment for Kathleen as she shook the tiny females hand and thanked her for the opportunity. As happy as she was to have some form of income to pay her annoying brother back, Kathleen hated that she was back into another place that posed another opportunity for redundancy and routine.

"Most of our staff is off today, or out to lunch, but I'll introduce you to a few right now," Sarah led the way out into the waiting room. "Julie Thorn is one of our on call nurses," she gestured to a heavy set brunette who was leading a coughing elderly male into the third examination room. "I'll have to introduce you two once she's finished..."

Kathleen nodded passively, eyes wandering around the waiting room of the hospital. She hadn't expected the place to be so small when Michael first brought it up, but upon arriving into the little yellow building, she found her previous assumptions had been dashed and replaced. Instead of a wide waiting room, it had been a box like setting with seven chairs all lined up against a set of windows. Three examination rooms were to the left of the entrance, and a small desk had been set up for check-ins. To Kathleen the place was more like a walk-in clinic.

"John!" Sarah suddenly cried, bumping into a man with a strong build. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she stuttered, face reddening.

"No, I'm sorry," He held his hands up in surrender, "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Kathleen glanced between the two, taking in the man's ugly grey knitted jumper. His blonde hair was trimmed short and looked well taken care of. The blues of his eyes were dark, much gloomier than the female's who gazed up at him with adoration. It took a light cough from Kathleen for Sarah to bounce back to reality, hands moving along with every word that tumbled from her lips;

"Oh! John! This is our new secretary, Kathleen Wright. She'll be starting today. I'm just introducing her to everyone."

The man, John, turned a friendly smile to the red head and stuck a hand out for a firm shake. "Dr John Watson. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Wright"

Kathleen nodded a quiet greeting, rather stunned with the way Sarah was blatantly eyeing up the Doctor. Perhaps life wouldn't be so routine in the 'hospital' with these two "ready to go at it like rabbits," as her younger sister would say.

"Right well, I better get to my patients for the day," John made a gesture with his thumb towards one of the examination rooms. "I'll be seeing you two later, I suppose."

Sarah uttered the Doctor a quick farewell before turning back to her newest worker, trying her best to keep a blush at bay. "Um- right, how about we go meet Julie?"

"But I thought she was—" Kathleen wasn't able to finish her sentence as the brunette stomped out of the examination room, scowl pressed into her features and plastic gloves snapping off her skin. Apparently the woman wasn't as busy as she thought as the patient walked weakly out of the room, limping more than usual and showing himself out the door.

"Julie," Sarah chirped, trying her best to catch the woman's attention. "I'd like you to meet our new secretary—"

"I really don't have time right now, Sarah. Can't this wait?" Julie Thorn was not a woman easily impressed, nor was she one who enjoyed mindless chit-chat. She preferred to get her work done and get the hell out. Her bedside manner was nearly nonexistent as she pulled another patient –this time a young toddler and father – into the examination room she had previously exited. Kathleen decided quickly that during her time working for Sarah Sawyer, she'd avoid the on call nurse as much as possible.

"I'm sorry about her," Sarah sighed, "Maybe I should just show you what we need you to do for the day?"

"That'd be great" It really wouldn't, but Kathleen supposed she couldn't escape the inevitable.

It didn't take long for Kathleen to learn her duties; gather the patient's information and then check them in with an available Doctor. If the phone were to ring, she was to answer whatever questions they asked to the best of her ability and if worse came to worst Kathleen was to call Sarah for help. Each examination room belonged to a different Doctor; Watson, Sawyer and then Marks, a man she had yet to meet as Julie Thorn had currently taken over. If a patient couldn't figure out where to go, it was as simple as pointing a finger at one of their doors.

With all the duties logged into her brain Kathleen hurried to finish her first day's work by rushing phone conversations and scribbling patient's names onto numerous forms with little room for legibility. By eight in the evening, she found herself finished up and ready to leave, heading to Sarah's office to let her new employer know. Poking her head into the office she found the brunette woman shifting through files of paperwork.

"Miss Sawyer?" Kathleen spoke up politely, hoping not to startle the busy woman.

Lightly jumping, Sarah's gaze upturned to the strawberry haired secretary. "Oh Kathleen! Do you need something?"

"I'm just letting you know I'm leaving now," Kathleen answered, shifting on her feet in eagerness to get out of the building.

Sarah's lips pulled up at the sides, creating a rounded blush around the apples of her cheeks. "Oh, thanks for letting me know." Sending her a curt nod Kathleen turned on her heel and began to make her way out of the office when Sarah suddenly called back to her. "Oh wait! Can you take this to John before you leave?"

Turning back Kathleen eyed the thin folder in the brunette's hand, agreeing silently and snatching it up. She was quick to power walk to the empty room belonging to the male doctor, dropping the folder onto his desk and preparing to head out until something caught her eye. There on the Doctor's desk sat a plain piece of white paper, the same legible scrawl and code that was undeniably on the stolen envelope that rested back home on Kathleen's dining room table. The tiny hairs on the backs of her arms began to stand on end, goose bumps covering her body. Had the envelope belonged to John Watson? Had the remote been intended for him as well?

She glanced over her shoulder multiple times, her fingers twitching against her sides as her brain began to work in overtime. Her brown eyes were flickering wildly about the room, teeth digging into the skin of her lower lip painfully. It was a puzzle that didn't belong to her, and it seemed the clues belonged to Mr Watson, a seemingly kind man that she had only met today.

"Miss Wright?" John suddenly appeared behind her, "everything alright?"

"Oh!" Kathleen moved herself closer to the desk, forcing her lips into a faux smile. "I was just bringing a folder to you. Sarah asked me to drop it off"

A genuine smile appeared on the man's face, creating a youthful appearance he hadn't had before. "Thank you very much"

Turning quickly she scooped up the folder and note unconsciously in both hands, sliding the folder out to John while bidding him goodbye. It took her less than a second to pocket the note and escape the building, frowning when the cold air reminded her what she had just done.

Looking both ways before crossing the street Kathleen waited until she was a safe distance away from the hospital to pull out the small slip of paper. The ink in which it had been written was a dark contrast to the white paper, creating a feeling of foreboding inside her. The feeling of anticipation swirled inside her until she couldn't take it anymore and was running home, pushing through groups of people and stumbling over the damp sidewalk. The wind pressed against her lithe frame, chilling her to the bone as she worked to get home and to a pencil.

Swallowing thickly her eyes landed on the door to her apartment and with the last bit of adrenaline she pushed her way through its entry way after unlocking it haphazardly. With the wood left hanging open for the cold to enter, Kathleen secured a pencil and threw her mind to the second Caesar cipher:

'QTYO ESP MWLNV MZI'

Tapping the pencil against the table for a few moments, she began to count until the puzzle was solved. "Find the black box?" she hummed quietly to herself, "a black box...?"

Drumming her fingers against the wood of her table, Kathleen allowed her mind to wander once more, blind to the danger as it crept up behind her.


End file.
